EU warns Egypt against using force

European Union leaders have called on the incumbent Egyptian government to refrain from the use of violence against peaceful protestors.

From left, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, British Prime Minister David Cameron and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte share a word during a round table meeting at an EU summit in Brussels, Friday, Feb. 4, 2011.

European Union leaders have called on the incumbent Egyptian government to refrain from the use of violence against peaceful protestors.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday that Egyptian security authorities must guarantee “free and peaceful” protests.

“We expect the Egyptian security forces to take care, that free and peaceful demonstrations are possible on this decisive Friday,” Merkel said in Brussels.

British Prime Minister David Cameron also advised the Egyptian regime to refrain from any use of force against demonstrators, warning that such an action would cost President Hosni Mubarak further international credibility.

“Above all, the message is this: if we see on the streets of Cairo today state-sponsored violence or the hiring of thugs to beat up protesters, then Egypt and its regime would lose any remaining credibility and support it has in the eyes of the watching world, including Britain,” Cameron said.

EU’s foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said it was essential that the Egyptian government and people “move forward together.”

Ashton’s remarks came as criticism had been leveled against her over her inaction on Egypt’s revolution. The senior EU official is expected to visit Cairo and ask President Mubarak to step down.

The European Union summit would likely call for an ‘orderly transition’ to a democratic government in Egypt, the Associated Press reported.

Millions of people have gathered in Cairo’s Liberation Square, which has been a focal point for demonstrators, as well as other cities for the eleventh consecutive day, chanting anti-government slogans, a Press TV correspondent reported.

The Egyptian opposition has called Friday the ‘Day of Departure,’ saying the planned massive rally aims to press Mubarak to relinquish power.

According to the United Nations, some 300 people have been killed and thousands of others have been injured in clashes between security forces and protesters in Cairo and other Egyptian cities.

The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei said on Friday that the recent developments in North Africa are the result of the “Islamic awakening, which followed the great [Islamic] Revolution of the Iranian nation.”

The Leader also described Mubarak as the “lackey of the Zionist regime [of Israel].”